Tell Me Why
by meltiny95
Summary: Maya's 18 now and going to NYU with her great boyfriend. When her best friend Riley comes back into town for the holidays after their first semester apart she begins to question how happy she really is.


Winter break was finally here and Maya was so excited to reunite with her best friend. It was the first time she'd see riley since summer. Now that they were across the country attending different colleges it was hard to keep in touch. Now riles was coming home for the first time in months after being away. Maya stayed in the city and was attending NYU, her dream school. She always pictured herself there but couldn't imagine actually getting in. She decided to turn things around in high school though and with the help of riley and farkle she became one of the best students in her class. So good in fact that she earned a full ride to her top choice for school.

Everyone was coming together for dinner at the Matthews to celebrate being together again. She was getting ready in her bedroom back at her parent's home where she'd be spending her holiday break.

"Sweetheart hurry up, we're going to be late!" Shouted Katy from downstairs

"If you want you and Shawn can head out and I'll meet you there." Replied Maya. She didn't want to be an inconvenience and knew how excited Shawn and Katy were about tonight. They've been together for four years now but both agreed that they didn't want to get married. Instead they were happy and secure in their relationship and had no desire to define it so maya was happy.

"Are you sure baby girl? We can wait if you want" said Katy as she entered Mayas bedroom.

"Yeah don't worry about it, I'm going to call Jake first anyways." Said Maya. Jake was her boyfriend of four months. They met at a party at the beginning of the school year and instantly hit it off. She was impressed when he told her he was pre-med at NYU, wanting to become a pediatric surgeon. He was 6ft tall with wavy blonde hair and a muscular frame, a total catch that even her mom Katy was impressed. It was funny that now Maya was 18 and dating a 21 year old when her family and friends once mocked her for liking a guy that was "too old" for her. Now just a few short years later age no longer mattered to anyone.

Ring….Ring….The call went straight to voicemail. "Hey Hun was just letting you know I'm heading over to Riley's. I'll call you after dinner to let you know how it all went." Maya had considered inviting him to the dinner but decided against it, wanting to enjoy a reunion with her best friend alone before introducing them. Anyways they had all of winter break to spend time together so there was no need to rush things. Maya headed off to the Matthews house hoping no one would notice her late entrance.

" AHHHH" screamed the girls in unison whilst rushing to embrace one another. Everyone around them smiled at the sight of the two girls together again.

"I've missed you so much! We have so much to catch up on but first, you look amazing!" shouted riley.

"Yeah you do look amazing, but then again you always do." Said someone at the table. Maya would recognize that voice anywhere and turned to face the boy she chased for so many years, Josh. Mayas face lit up while riley rolled her eyes at the words of her uncle josh.

"Hey Joshua, it's been awhile." Maya was trying to play it cool but felt the eyes of everyone in the room on her. Everyone wondered how the older and more mature Maya would handle talking to the boy she admired for so many years. She felt their silent judgments and felt a little hurt that everyone was still holding her past feelings for josh against her. It had been years since she'd seen him, couldn't everyone let it go. Instead of letting them get to her she reminded herself of Jake and her new found confidence in order to prove to everyone she moved on.

"Yeah I'm surprised we haven't run into each other once considering we go to school together now. I thought you'd reach out to me once and awhile," Said josh, trying to get a rise out of her. It's true though; he was shocked and confused as to why she no longer seemed interested in him. Now that she was finally age appropriate for him he would of sworn that she'd come chasing after him like she'd done so many times before.

"Well considering the fact I'm new you should of reached out to me, not the other way around. Anyways I've been busy getting adjusted to school and stuff." Maya was irritated and wanted the conversation to be over with, realizing she no longer found him to be as charming as she did before.

"Your right, maybe now that your settled we can hang out and stop acting like strangers on campus then." Said josh, hoping to diffuse the tension in the air that everyone in the room was trying to ignore.

"Yeah that sounds nice." Said Maya casually.

The dinner went by smoothly with the adults asking Maya and riley a million questions about their new lives. Both were more then happy to share and catch up with the people they loved. Things took a bit of a turn when Mayas phone began to ring.

"Sorry guys I've got to get this. Be right back." Said Maya. She glanced at her phone to see that Jake was finally calling her back after about four hours. She excused herself and headed out into the hall to get some privacy.

"Hey babe sorry about earlier I just got your message now. Are you still at dinner?" asked Jake

"It's fine love, yeah I'm still here we finished eating but everyone's just sitting around catching up now. " shared Maya.

"All right well when your done if you want you can come over and spend the night. I miss you, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." Said Jake. In reality they had just seen each other two days ago but Maya appreciated it nonetheless.

"Well I was thinking about spending the night here, it's just that I haven't seen riley in so long and we're having so much fun. Maybe tomorrow night?" Said Maya.

"Fine make me wait." He said jokingly. Although Maya knew him better then he thought and could sense a bit of disappointment in his voice.

"Well if your patient I'll make sure you're rewarded for it" Replied Maya teasingly, knowing this would put him in a better mood.

"Well well I guess I'll be on my best behavior then." He said gladly. Maya could sense his excitement and was relieved that her light flirting could cheer him up.

"Alright well I've got to head back now, don't want to be rude. See you tomorrow." They quickly said their goodbyes and Maya turned to return to the group.

"Well that took long, who was that on the phone?" asked Josh curiously to Maya as she took her seat next to riley.

"Not that it's any of your business but it was a friend." Replied Maya, hoping no one would ask any more questions.

"Don't be silly, it was Jake wasn't it?" replied Shawn who was completely oblivious to the fact Maya had been purposely keeping her relationship a secret from the rest of the group.

"Who's Jake?" asked several members of the Matthews clan all at once.

"Jake is Mayas boyfriend, that boy is gorgeous! He's pre-med and a total sweetheart to my baby girl. I mean maya couldn't have picked better that boy is such a catch." Bragged Katy. She was so happy for her daughter and her impressive boyfriend that she leaped at the opportunity. With that bit of over sharing Maya began to turn red.

"Seriously mom? Yes that was my boyfriend Jake, he was just checking up to see how dinner was going." Replied Maya.

"Well he sounds great Maya, I can't wait to meet him." Shared riley, seeing that Maya had such a great guy in her life brought her a sense of relief. She secretly worried that Maya might still be carrying a small torch for her uncle josh.

"Yeah at first I was worried considering how much older he is but he's really impressed me. You should have invited him to dinner I bet everyone would love to meet him. He's actually pretty fun once you get to know him." Said Shawn. He knew that Maya was growing uncomfortable with the talk about her romantic life but enjoyed making her squirm.

"Well everyone will meet him when the time is right." Replied Katy who was quickly trying to diffuse the pressure being placed on Maya.

"Wait what? How old is he?" Replied Josh

"He just turned twenty one and he's a junior like you actually. It's not really a big deal guys." Replied Maya smugly. She took pleasure in the shock on his face. For so long everyone told her she was too young to date an older guy and here she was dating a guy the same age as josh. While that had nothing to do with why she was dating jake it was an added bonus.

"Maybe the four of us can hang out tomorrow night then so I can get to know him?" asked riley. Not wanting to be a third wheel she thought bringing josh along could be fun.

"Yeah what do you say Maya?" Asked Josh.

"I'm in." Replied Maya. The adults around the table traded worried glances all agreeing that this would not end well.

After dinner the two girls ran up to their beloved bay window to make up for lost time.

"Maya why didn't you tell me about jake if you guys have been dating for months? Don't you think it's strange that this is the first time i'm hearing about him." Asked riley.

"Peaches it's not a big deal it just never came up it's not like i'm hiding him or anything."

"So are the two of you serious? Paint me a picture of it all I want to know more about him."

"Well we've only known each other a couple months so we're not that serious but I wouldn't call us casual either. But yeah he's pretty amazing and I enjoy being with him. He's funny and extremely charming as you can see by mom and shawn's words. I don't know what else to say I mean we met at a party at NYU that my friend brought me to. This guy was hitting on me and wouldn't take a hint and Jake just kind of swooped in and got rid of him for me. At first I was totally offended because I don't need anyone defending me you know but it was actually kind of nice. After that we spent the entire night just talking and laughing and he walked me back to my dorm. He wasn't a creep and didn't try to invite himself in or anything and I appreciated that. You know how guys can be, once they see my blonde hair they think i'm easy and just throw themselves at me but he was really respectful. I guess I was just attracted to the fact that he took me seriously and really wanted to get to know me. So we kept spending time together and that's pretty much the whole story."

"Sounds to me like he's the perfect gentlemen, just the kind of guy you deserve. I'm glad you found someone who makes you so happy. But given everything you just said I have to ask, what about josh? I guess I just thought that since you stayed in the city and we're adults now that you guys might give it a try."

"What about Josh riles? He's never taken me seriously and look at how everyone acted when they saw us talk. Everyone looks at me like i'm some kid or a joke when it comes to him and it hurts. My ego can't take anymore hits and i'm done trying with him. I mean after graduation last year I told him I was going to NYU and i've been here for months and he's never even reached out to me. I can take a hint and clearly he isn't interested so i'm not going to wait around forever. I deserve better then that and I know he's your family but he hurt me. I really thought the age difference was the problem between us but that's not a problem anymore. Am I delusional or something because I really thought he was interested in me riles?

"Maya stop, you aren't delusional. If my uncle can't see how amazing and beautiful you are that's his problem not yours. I mean I love him and all but boys can be stupid sometimes."

"Well regardless I think the reality is that we're never going to happen and I'm okay with that now. I don't know if i'll ever get over him but i've moved on and that's a start."

"As long as you know what your doing...I just want you to be happy maya. So if Jake makes you happy then I'm on board." Replied riley.

"Can we stop talking about this now, I want to hear about you! Tell me all about your adventures..."

Little did the girls know that josh was standing outside the bedroom door eavesdropping on the entire conversation. While he had just come up to say goodnight to the girls he had gotten curious when he overheard them speaking about mayas boyfriend. He was shocked beyond belief at the entire conversation and wasn't sure what to do. He decided to just leave to his apartment before he got caught and would process all of this later.


End file.
